


and the pieces just fall into place

by meevees



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Gen, I didn't even mean the undertones they just sort of happen because leon is that charming idk, Pokemon Sword & Shield Expansion Pass: The Isle of Armor, Pre-Canon, Rivalry, is this to his benefit or his dentriment NOBODY KNOWS, piers just literally can't be assed to stick up for himself, the shipping is not explicit but I tagged it because there are a lot of undertones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:07:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26751103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meevees/pseuds/meevees
Summary: Piers had heard the word “prodigy” thrown around a lot in the weeks that followed his first meeting with zigzagoon. He wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about as far as he was concerned; he really hadn’t done anything all that special, and anything mildly special he might have done hadn’t even been on purpose. Still, he could see why the idea held appeal for his parents and the other adults around him. Being home to a child prodigy could do a lot for Spikemuth’s reputation.~Or, in which Piers accidentally becomes a pokemon trainer, then accidentally becomes rivals with the future champion, and puts himself on the path to accidentally becoming a gym leader while he's at it.
Relationships: Dande | Leon/Nezu | Piers
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	and the pieces just fall into place

Piers generally considered himself to be a level headed person. He wasn’t much of a risk taker, and certainly not one to act rashly or make impulsive decisions. But sometimes, when it came to looking out for his little sister, he could be known to forget himself.

So when he heard Marnie cry out for him, her little voice trembling despite her usually calm demeanor, he didn’t have much time for thinking. He dashed off in the direction of her voice, finding her in one of the nearby alleys of Spikemuth. She was backed up against a wall and being stared down by a rather unhappy looking zigzagoon that seemed to have been disturbed from rummaging through some nearby trash barrels. It was growling menacingly and looked ready to unleash a tackle; time was obviously of the essence so Piers took what seemed to be the only clear solution to the impending problem and flung himself in front of his sister.

The Zigzagoon slammed into his solar plexus, knocking him right off of his feet. Piers hit the ground on his rear end right beside where Marnie was still huddled. The Zigzagoon was still agitated, and Piers still feared it attacking her, so he wrapped his arms around it and held it to his chest instead of letting go. It flailed and thrashed, trying to escape his grip and slashing across his cheek with its claws in the process, but he did not release it. 

Marnie was looking on nervously beside him, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she said, “Big bro, are you okay?”

His cheek was burning where he’d been scratched, and wrestling the zigzagoon was getting increasingly difficult, but the last thing he intended was to make her more upset, so he put on his best brave face and kept his voice calm. “‘M fine, Marns, we just scared him a bit is all, yeah?”

His calm tone seemed to placate the pokemon as much as it did his sister, and steadily the zigzagoon calmed in his arms. Piers held on for another moment, still fearing retaliation, before eventually, tentatively, releasing his grip. Surprisingly, the zigzagoon did not immediately run away, but settled itself more comfortably into his lap. 

“Think he likes you, Bro.” Marnie observed, cheerful again.

Piers shrugged his shoulders, keeping himself nonchalant, “Likes being warm, prolly.”

Still, he couldn’t help but admit to himself that he was tickled by the thought of the pokemon wanting to snuggle up to him. He certainly wouldn’t admit it out loud, though.

Actually heartwarming or not, the moment wasn’t meant to last long. Another pokemon, this time a meowth, had emerged from the nearby trash barrels, and although they had objectively done nothing to scare or upset this one, it was looking even angrier about their presence than zigzagoon had. After weighing his options a little more carefully this time, Piers had sagely decided that grabbing Marnie and making a run for it would be their best course of action, when the zigzagoon suddenly leapt from his lap and faced down the meowth. 

Piers blinked, his face a picture of wide-eyed surprise. It would be easy enough to write this off as a simple territorial dispute; the pokemon in and around Spikemuth were feisty enough that it wasn’t such an uncommon occurrence. And yet, he couldn’t shake the sense that zigzagoon had jumped out in front of them to protect them, much like he had just done for his sister. 

It was a touching display, if a futile one; Piers was no pokemon trainer, not yet at any rate, but he knew enough to know zigzagoon’s normal typing left it at a pretty clear disadvantage against the steel type meowth. It still might have been enough of a distraction for he and Marnie to escape unscathed, but somehow despite having no more reason to feel attached to the little zigzagoon than it did him, Piers found he couldn’t bring himself to just run away and leave it behind, especially not when it was bravely defending them.

Then again, he also didn’t want to watch the pokemon get pummeled on his behalf, and as the meowth raised a paw, sharp claws glinting and obviously ready to unleash a metal claw, Piers couldn’t help but wince in anticipation of the blow that was coming zigzagoon’s way. He turned his head to the side, unable to watch. But it also felt wrong to just stand there and do nothing, so as nonsensical as it was to offer advice to a wild pokemon of all things, he also gritted out, “You should use growl to soften the attack.”

It was the familiar sound of zigzagoon’s growl that had Piers turning to face the battle again, finding to his surprise that the pokemon had in fact heeded his words just before taking a hit from the meowth’s metal claw. Thanks to lowering the other pokemon’s attack, zigzagoon was able to shrug it off easily. But the same thing could be said for meowth when zigzagoon attempted to retaliate with a more or less useless tackle.

“Snarl’d be better, it doesn’t resist that.” Piers offered quickly, still uncertain why he was bothering to talk strategy with a pokemon. And yet once again, as if on cue, zigzagoon squared up and delivered a snarl just as he’d suggested. This time the effect was obvious; the meowth was sent toppling and, apparently admitting defeat, scurried off to find somewhere else to dig through the rubbish.

“Huh. Not bad.” Piers observed mildly, still not thinking much of the whole ordeal as Marnie clapped triumphantly beside him. It was probably for the best that he got his sister home now before any other pokemon showed up and decided that they wanted a go. But it felt somehow wrong to just walk away without any sort of closure, so he scratched awkwardly at the back of his head and said, “Well, thanks for your help, or somethin’.”

Piers stood up and brushed himself off, offering a hand to help Marnie up as well. He took her hand and began to make their way out of the alley, but it seemed like zigzagoon had other plans, as it waddled haphazardly after them and climbed its way up Piers’ clothes to perch on his shoulder. It took a tentative sniff at the scratch on his cheek and then, as if offering an apology, gave the spot a gentle lick.

“Aw, don’t worry ‘bout that, I know you didn’t mean nothin’ by it.” Piers said, continuing his newfound and bizarre habit of engaging in a one sided conversation with a pokemon. “But uh, we really gotta get home now, so . . .”

Zigzagoon did not budge from its newfound spot on his shoulder.

“Right. Well, guess he’s comin’ with us, then.” Piers sighed. He might have shrugged his shoulders again if not for his new tagalong. He’d offered minimal resistance to the problem, he realized, but the truth was he didn’t really want to leave zigzagoon behind either.

Naturally, when they arrived at home his father raised an unamused eyebrow at the uninvited guest he’d brought with him. But Marnie, excitable as she rarely was, launched into a dramatic retelling of the day’s events, gushing about how Piers had easily tamed the wild zigzagoon and then promptly won a pokemon battle with it.

“That’s . . . not exactly how it went.” Piers offered weakly, bracing himself for the pile of trouble he was about to receive.

And yet his parents no longer looked angry. Instead his mum and dad looked at each other thoughtfully for a long moment before returning their attention to him. Their expressions were difficult to read, but while he had clearly avoided punishment for the day, whatever those looks meant Piers suspected that they still spelled trouble for him.

* * *

Piers had heard the word “prodigy” thrown around a lot in the weeks that followed his first meeting with zigzagoon. He wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about as far as he was concerned; he really hadn’t done anything all that special, and anything mildly special he might have done hadn’t even been on purpose. Still, he could see why the idea held appeal for his parents and the other adults around him. Being home to a child prodigy could do a lot for Spikemuth’s reputation.

He still felt like shipping him off all the way to the Isle of Armor to attend the Master Dojo was a bit much. It was a huge opportunity, one that few trainers were lucky or skilled enough to get. So he was grateful for that, although he couldn’t help but feel that maybe the spot would have been better given to someone who wanted it a little more than him. Plus, it was a rare chance for him to get out of Spikemuth and see more of Galar with his own eyes. That much he really was excited for, even if the way Marnie’s bottom lip had quivered even as she’d bravely asserted that she was going to be just fine on her own while he was gone had soured the idea a bit. He’d almost been tempted to sneak her along with him; even as little as she was she probably would have enjoyed this dojo nonsense a lot more than him.

Mixed feelings aside, Piers had found himself under Mustard’s tutelage, and figured he ought to make the best of it while he was here. There was a small group of other young trainers also in attendance, and Piers had gone through a round of awkward introductions to them all. There was another boy meant to be joining them in addition to him today apparently, but he was running late, and Mustard had just resolved to begin without him when the sliding door of the dojo suddenly burst open. 

“Sorry I’m late!” The boy in the doorway exclaimed, clamoring his way into the dojo with such a fuss that the entire island might have been alerted to his presence, “I uh. I got a little lost.”

It was a pitiful excuse, in Piers’s opinion. After all, he couldn’t imagine how anyone could manage to get lost on the way here when the dojo was practically visible from the train station. And yet a closer examination of the boy--rubbing awkwardly at the back of his head of unruly purple hair, expression sheepish, golden eyes bright and earnest--suggested he was telling the truth. 

“Ah, Leon,” Mustard answered casually, as if nothing about the boy’s boisterous entrance or his tale of getting lost was even mildly ridiculous, “We’re glad you were able to join us. Piers, this is Leon, the other new student joining us today.”

Leon offered him an enthusiastic greeting to which Piers waved lightly in response.

“Now that you’re both here, there are a couple of someones who’ve been waiting to meet you,” Mustard’s wife, Honey, chimed in sweetly, “Come on out, little ones!”

A trio of pokemon trotted out onto the main dojo floor. A bulbasaur, a charmander, and a squirtle. If Leon’s eyes had been bright before, they were positively shining with wonderment now. Even Piers could only admit to being a little starstruck at the sight; those weren’t pokemon you met in Galar every day.

“These little cuties were specially raised here at the dojo, and you can choose one of them to join you in your training.”

“No way, seriously?!” Leon looked ready to jump out of his skin at the very idea, “In that case, it’s got to be charmander for me!”

The little fire type pokemon seemed just as excited and energetic as its new trainer, jumping right into his arms and chirping happily.

Piers glanced back at the remaining two. It was an incredible chance to be offered such a rare pokemon, certainly. And it wasn’t that he didn’t want one. But somehow it just didn’t feel right.

“Not to seem ungrateful or nothin’, but . . .”

He wasn’t sure how to finish his thought, because he honestly wasn’t sure exactly what the reason for his hesitation was. Fortunately, Mustard smiled knowingly, “Say no more. You already have the partner you want to embark on this journey with, don’t you?”

Piers nodded resolutely, thankful that the old man had managed to understand him better than he understood himself in that moment.

“You already have a pokemon?” Leon asked eagerly, “Wow, it must be a pretty special one to turn down this. Can I see it?”

“Well, I mean, he’s just a zigzagoon,” Piers admitted, flustered, “You’ve probably already seen a lot like him before. . .”

“But even so, he’s really special to you, right? That’s brilliant!”

Piers smiled, surprised to find that while they seemed to be polar opposites in every other way, Leon also understood him in this.

* * *

The dojo uniform seemed a size or two too large for Piers. Maybe it was just meant to be so loose, but he felt like he was swimming in it, besides the fact that it was categorically not his style. He was far too pale for yellow, and yellow was far too bright and sunny for him. Overall, the effect was that of an outfit that was wearing him rather than the other way around. 

Leon, on the other hand, looked like he’d been born to wear the thing. It was a snug, natural fit, and the color brought out the golden gleam of his eyes. _Predictable_ was all Piers could think about that.

But the uniforms weren’t participating in Mustard’s trials, and while Piers might look silly in his oversized yellow _gi_ , Leon looked _very_ silly running around after one of the speedy slowpoke, trying to catch up to it. The whole point was that they were too fast to catch, in Piers' estimation, and they were supposed to be using a less direct method to accomplish the task. But Leon’s oversight in that regard was hardly his problem. Piers might not have been particularly interested in participating in this training, but now that he was here he wasn’t the sort who was willing to give less than his best at it. There was no time to worry about whether or not Leon would succeed at the task; Piers needed to focus on ensuring his own success.

For his part, Piers was camped out behind the trunk of a thick tree in the Soothing Wetlands. He had considered hiding up in the tree itself, until he realized that would involve about 100% more climbing that he was willing to do. Slowpoke weren’t really known for their brains anyway (then again, they usually weren’t known for their speed either) so Piers figured hiding behind the tree was good enough.

Now all he had to do was wait. Eventually one of the slowpoke would come his way and he and zigzagoon could ambush it. Between the element of surprise and zigzagoon’s type advantage, they should be able to win.

Finally, after a while of lying in wait, that was exactly what happened. Just as a slowpoke was passing by his tree Piers leapt to his feet and tossed out his pokeball, “zigzagoon, use lick! Let’s try to paralyze it.”

Zigzagoon did not hesitate, following the command as soon as it was free of its pokeball. And apparently luck was on their side today, as they got the paralysis Piers was hoping for. That mostly handled their speed disadvantage. The slowpoke’s speed was so incredible that it was still a bit faster than zigzagoon, but that was okay; Piers had a plan for that as well. After the slowpoke had retaliated with a water gun, he called out, “Now use payback.”

The two super effective hits were enough and the slowpoke collapsed, defeated. Zigzagoon took a moment to preen smugly before darting over to Piers and climbing up onto his shoulder. Together they returned to the dojo.

Leon and Charmander were already there when they arrived, Leon sprawled out across the floor on his back, and Charmander similarly prone on its belly beside him, both panting heavily. “Man,” Leon began breathily when he saw Piers enter, “Those slowpoke sure don’t live up to their names, huh?”

“You . . . seriously caught one of them?” Piers asked incredulously, shocked to discover that Leon’s straightforward approach had actually been a success.

“Yeah, I mean you must have too, right, if you’re back already.” Leon sat himself up to continue their conversation, although he was still huffing and puffing. Apparently it finally allowed him to actually get a good look at Piers. “And you didn’t even break a sweat doing it. Geez, you must be some kind of fitness maniac.”

Piers suspected a cursory glance at his physique was more than enough to confirm he was in fact _not_ a fitness maniac, but the facts seemed to glance right off of Leon in favor of his own interpretation of reality. Piers didn’t bother explaining himself to the contrary, just shrugged his shoulders and answered, “Well, I did complete the trial, one way or another.”

They were the only two who managed it, come to find out.

* * *

Their second assignment felt easier than the first, and a little less relevant in Piers’s opinion, since it didn’t involve any actual battling. There was probably some sort of trick to it, something to add an unexpected element of challenge, so he still didn’t want to relax too much.

Even so, he had enough of a plan of attack that he was comfortable taking his time, and taking a bit of a detour while he was at it. He’d noticed something by the beach while participating in the slowpoke task the day before that he wanted to check out more closely now. 

Sure enough, as he approached the beach he saw exactly what he was looking for; there were a bunch of morpeko scurrying about. It wasn’t like he’d never seen this particular pokemon species before--they had a habitat right outside of Spikemuth after all, although it was a rather rare chance to spot one there. They were Marnie’s absolute favorite though, and she even had a stuffed one at home that she carried all around the house, and anywhere else their parents would let her take it.

Getting to see so many of them now, so out in the open and less fearful of humans than the dodgy ones near Spikemuth, Piers could see how such a cute pokemon would appeal to a little girl. He also couldn’t help but be reminded of his sister, in an odd sort of way; there was something about the way the little hamster was normally so peaceful and cute, but could suddenly unleash on you at the drop of a hat was a dead ringer for Marnie.

He just watched them for a moment, starting to second guess his idea now that he was here in the moment. Besides the dusk ball he’d been given for zigzagoon, he’d been given extras and along with them permission to catch more pokemon. He’d yet to really be interested in doing so for himself, but could only imagine the look on Marnie’s face if he came home with a proper morpeko of her very own for her. What better souvenir could he possibly get?

Finally resolute, he released zigzagoon from its pokeball. “Use headbutt on that one that’s a little ways from the others; we’re not tryin’ to knock it out, just weakenin’ it enough to catch it.”

Zigzagoon obeyed. The morpeko flopped to the ground on impact, promptly transforming into its hangry mode in response to the attack. What it might attempt to do next was irrelevant though; there wasn’t any point in waiting to find out when Piers could instead quickly lob a pokeball at it. He did so and the ball shook once, twice, three times before clicking closed.

Piers picked the pokeball up off the ground, and he had to admit it was an incredibly exhilarating feeling because _he’d just caught a pokemon_. He’d already done so before, technically, or at least people like his parents and sister would say so, although he didn’t really think his meeting with zigzagoon counted. This though had been the real deal. He was already starting to understand the appeal of collecting more pokemon for himself.

Before he could do that, though, he did still have a task to complete for Mustard. He pocketed the pokeball containing morpeko, allowing his zigzagoon to stay out with him for now, and started to make his way away from the beach. Mushrooms preferred dark, damp places after all, and while he’d never actually heard of max mushrooms before, he doubted they were an exception. There was a forest on the other side of the wetlands, and a cave beyond that. Those seemed like the most productive places to search.

When Piers returned to the dojo with his max mushrooms in tow, he found that this time he was the only one who had managed to complete the task. He was surprised and, strangely, disappointed to find that Leon had not also succeeded. The other boy at least didn’t seem to have given up yet, though, as he still hadn’t returned to the dojo.

In fact, hours later, when the max soup had been prepared and the entire dojo was sitting around a table eating a very lively dinner, Leon still had not returned. A few students had expressed concern, but Mustard seemed unperturbed. Each time he simply smiled, reassured that he was sure Leon would come back when he was ready, and moved the conversation right along as if a student being alone somewhere in the wilderness of the Isle of Armor with the sun going down wasn’t really all that big of a deal. 

When dinner was just about finished, the door to the dojo suddenly burst open again. There was Leon, looking frazzled, his hair a mess with a few sticks and leaves buried in it, but carrying his three max mushrooms in his hands.

“I found the max mushrooms!” Leon announced, every bit as casual about the hours he had spent missing as Mustard had been. “But um. Got a bit lost again while I was looking.”

This was a trend for Leon, apparently. And a fairly common one at that, if the way he easily brushed off the ordeal was any indication.

The students all exchanged curious, uncertain glances, know doubt wondering how Mustard was going to handle such unusual circumstances. But true to his character, Mustard hadn’t stopped smiling through any of it.

“Well, I guess it’s lucky for you I didn’t put a time limit on the trial, hmm?” Mustard replied cheekily. Most of the students looked shocked by this development, but Piers could feel himself grinning ever so slightly. It looked like he and Leon would be moving on to the final trial.

* * *

“The third and final trial will of course be a pokemon battle,” Mustard explained the following day, “Since Leon and Piers are the last students remaining, the two of you will battle to determine who will receive the secret armor of the Master Dojo.”

Piers nodded. This was more the sort of trial he’d been expecting when he’d been sent off to the dojo. And admittedly, he was curious to see how Leon fared in a proper battle. His antics so far in the trials made him seem a bit bumbling, truth be told, but he had to have earned his very prestigious position here at the dojo for a reason, right?

But it didn’t seem Mustard was quite done with his announcement yet. He grinned mischievously as he added, “But that’s not all. The winner of this battle will also receive an endorsement from yours truly to participate in this year’s gym challenge. Not a bad bonus, eh?”

Instantly, chatter broke out amongst the students, reactions ranging from surprise to jealousy at this unexpected new development. Leon’s eyes went so wide they might’ve popped right out of his head, his smile nearly wide enough to split his face in two, “Seriously?! No way! Charmander, this means we’ve got to give it our all even harder than before!”

For his part, Piers didn’t particularly want to participate in the gym challenge, but he could understand why such knowledge might be news to Mustard. None of the adults had actually bothered to ask him what he wanted up to this point, after all, and Piers hadn’t bothered to clarify his feelings for them. He’d meant to bring it up eventually, but it had just never felt like the right moment to do so. And right now, surrounded as he was by people who were probably desperate for such an opportunity, and had only just been denied it by Piers himself, was probably the worst moment of all. So once again he kept his mouth shut.

He might not want this nearly as much as Leon obviously did, but Piers still wasn’t the sort to fight battles without the intention to win, so he stepped onto the arena behind the dojo every bit as ready to give it his best effort. Their match would be one on one, since neither of them had the team for any more than that at the moment, so it was all going to come down to Piers’ zigzagoon versus Leon’s charmander. The latter pair had significantly less experience together thus far, but Piers suspected he still couldn’t afford to underestimate them. 

Leon patted himself quickly on both cheeks, seemingly trying to get in the zone, although his golden eyes burned with a passion that suggested he was already there. In front of him, charmander also looked fired up and ready to battle. Piers had heard people say how trainers would often come to resemble their pokemon and the idea had never made much sense to him, but looking at Leon and charmander now he felt he finally understood just what they meant. Both trainer and pokemon were clearly of the same mind now, fully in sync and ready to battle together as one.

Piers wondered if anyone would say the same about him and zigzagoon. He wasn’t so sure. While he trusted his pokemon completely, Piers doubted whether he himself had the passion or skill to pull off such a bond. And Leon had managed it in just a few short days.

There wasn’t time for second guessing himself now, though. All Piers could do was give the best attempt his heart and mind could muster.

Leon was obviously eager, and he took the first move, “Charmander, use ember!”

He was going right on the offensive, certainly not a surprising choice coming from the impulsive boy Piers had come to know over the past few days.It wasn’t a bad move either, necessarily, although if Piers could play the long game well enough it wouldn’t be sufficient on its own.

“Use snarl to reduce its power!”

Leon was not deterred from his purely offensive strategy, although charmander’s attacks weren’t doing much thanks to zigzagoon’s debuff. Then again, zigzagoon wasn’t dishing out much more damage than it was taking, due to simply lacking the natural offensive power that charmander claimed. The battle went on like that for a while, with the two of them dealing minimal blows. At one point Piers tried for the paralysis from lick again, knowing that if he were to cripple charmander’s speed alongside its attack then his victory would be assured. Unfortunately, he did not get as lucky as he had against slowpoke, but he still felt confident that the longer this battle was drawn out the more of an advantage he gained over his opponent.

Not to mention that, with a bit of luck, he could tip things in his favor even further. And if charmander couldn’t attack at all it certainly couldn’t win, so with that in mind Piers decided to go for flinches. “Zigzagoon, headbutt!”

Charmander dropped to the ground, and for a moment Piers thought he might have won. But as the little pokemon slowly got back to its feet, and the flame on its tail flared to twice its usual size, Piers realized he had hugely miscalculated. _Blaze_.

Had this been the intention behind Leon’s reckless strategy all along, or was it just dumb luck because zigzagoon hadn’t quite been able to finish charmander off? The proud grin, almost a smirk, on Leon’s face suggested the former, but Piers supposed it didn’t matter either way. With the boost to its fire power charmander had just received, none of the tricks he had up his sleeve would be enough to prolong this battle any further.

“Time to finish this, charmander! Ember!”

Zigzagoon’s legs gave out from under it, and after a brief attempt to struggle back to its feet, it stayed down. 

Leon let out a cheer. Charmander leapt into the air; they shared a high five before it landed in Leon’s arms as they celebrated.

Piers sighed, scooped zigzagoon up, and gave him a few scratches between his ears for his hard work. He’d wanted to win, but Leon clearly _wanted this_ more than he did, so Piers supposed everything had worked out for the best, even if it was a bit disappointing.

“That was brilliant, mate!” Leon had rushed up to him excitedly, still clutching charmander in his arms. "You really pushed us to our limit! I couldn’t tell how that battle was gunna go!”

Mustard, though he rarely wasn’t smiling, looked especially pleased as he approached them as well, “It was an impressive display of partnership on both sides. Very well done!”

Piers smiled too. Maybe his real mistake had been underestimating his bond with his pokemon from the beginning.

* * *

If Piers had thought losing his shot at the Master Dojo would put the gym challenge business to rest, he'd have been in for a rude awakening when he returned to Spikemuth. Fortunately, he’d been prepared for the fact that his father hadn’t relented at all.

“I’ve already reached out to a few scouts, and someone is sure to be willing to endorse you still. Just being the runner up for the former champion should be more than enough to get their attention.”

Piers still didn’t protest. It was perhaps his last chance to do so, but by now he could feel all of the adults’ hopes for Spikemuth resting upon his shoulders, and it didn’t feel right to just shrug them off. 

And maybe that wasn’t the warm welcome back to his hometown that he’d been hoping for. But the way Marnie’s face absolutely lit up when he introduced her to morpeko more than made up for that. 

His father had managed to find him an endorsement, for better or worse, which was how he now found himself in the lobby of the Motostoke Stadium waiting for the opening ceremonies of the gym challenge to begin. His challenger uniform fit him at least, although he still couldn’t help but feel that it just didn’t suit him at all.

Marnie had been allowed to accompany him for this trip, his whole family having travelled to Motostoke for the event. He’d have to leave her behind soon, since she could hardly come with him as he travelled for the gym challenge, but for now she was clinging tightly to his hand, tagging along with him as morpeko trotted beside them.

“Y’know you’re gunna hafta stay with mum and dad once this thing gets started, right? Can’t hardly take you out onto the pitch with me.” Marnie just clung to him tighter, and Piers’ shoulders sagged, “It’ll be fine, you’ll have morpeko with you, right?”

“Piers! You made it!” 

It was Leon. His presence wasn’t a surprise, of course, but the fact that he’d noticed and then bothered to say anything to Piers was more of one. 

Leon had darted over, coming to a stop in front of him. He didn’t bother with hellos as he plowed right on, “I’m glad you did it, mate! I mean, I figured you’d get in somehow but now I know for sure.”

“He’s loud.” Marnie observed plainly, eyeing their new companion with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.

“‘S part of his charm, somehow.” Piers offered, admittedly just as mystified by that as his little sister was.

Leon, for all that he perhaps should have been offended by their words, seemed utterly unaffected. He grabbed Piers’ free arm, gave him a gentle tug, and said, “C’mon, you’ve gotta meet the rest.”

Leon’s boisterousness was apparently the motivation Marnie needed to finally detach herself from Piers. She let go of his hand and departed to find their parents again, morpeko right at her heels.

No longer restricted, Leon had kept his grip on Piers’ wrist and was dragging him through the crowd of the stadium lobby. He came to a stop in front of a redheaded girl and a tall, dark skinned boy. 

“These are Sonia and Raihan,” Leon motioned toward the kids in front of him as he introduced them, “And this is Piers. He’s my rival.”

“I am?” Piers asked incredulously.

The boy--Raihan, apparently--arched an eyebrow, looking unamused by this reveal. “ _He_ is? Come on, mate, clearly I’m the one who's your rival.”

Leon sighed, looking every bit like an adult forced to explain the obvious to a child as he said, “You’re my childhood friend rival. Piers is my dark horse rival. There’s a difference.”

“. . .I don’t remember agreein’ to any of that.” Piers replied, not that Leon seemed to be looking for his opinion on the subject. Raihan still looked grumpy, but at least placated by the admission that he, too, was a rival. Sonia just looked tired of dealing with both of their antics. 

“Guess rivals don’t matter so much anyway, when I’m the one who’s going to win the gym challenge and become champion.” Raihan boasted.

Leon was not about to take that proclamation lying down, it seemed, “You’re mad if that’s what you think. I’m definitely going to win it!”

Attention turned to Piers. As the final rival of the bunch (apparently) this was probably the moment in which he too was supposed to assert his inevitable dominance over the others. He shrugged his shoulders, “Not much point in participatin’ if I ain’t tryin’ to win, I figure.”

Leon wrapped an arm around Piers’ shoulder and pulled him tight to his side, “Yeah, that’s the spirit!”

“That didn’t sound spirited at all.” Sonia deadpanned.

Maybe this whole gym challenge thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> idk man I just like fleshing out pokemon characters' vague backstories


End file.
